The Nomad and the Olive Branch

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God." -Matthew, 5:9 While I may not agree with the trinitarian aspects of this verse from the Gospel of Matthew, I certainly most agree with the notion that those who strive for peace between people and mankind in general exhibit godly actions in character. The older generation that is in power is certainly at odds with the rest of the world youth, who just want to live in a peaceful environment. But this is in itself a big topic. I believe that the youth among us are the ones who have the future in their hands... who will shape the future of this world and divert most if not all catastrophe, especially avoidable scenarios. The title link leads to an initiative by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, called the Post-Conflict Restruction (or PCR) project. Here is the description offered by the website: Post-conflict environments are inherently insecure. Although cease-fires and peace agreemen...

My venture into the world of entertainment was not always a cultured one, especially when it comes to music. My list is not really varied: I listen to modern music, sometimes with male vocals, sometimes primarily instrumental. I usually do so when I read a book or surf the net, and sometimes when I go to the gym or study at home. To me, music is just a commodity, which I use to keep myself going at what I'm doing, whether it be reading the first few pages of a huge book, or surfing the net for vital information pertaining to what I blog about, or when I bench-press tens of kilos of iron. Music isn't something I would devote an entire hour just to listen to. However, there are a number of singers that deserve such time in my opinion, but only one stands out from the rest. What makes this singer unique is that this singer is of the classical genre, not modern. Even stranger is that the singer is not a man, but a woman. And what a woman. She goes by the name Fairuz , which is actu...

That was a line I heard in a movie called "The Big Lebowski" , starring Jeff Bridges and John Goodman, among others. It was in a scene when Lebowski, an old man, wept at the notion of his kidnapped wife and whether she'll be safe or not. But sometimes bad things happen to people, good and bad, and it drives them to express their emotions, even when they (may) spiral out of control, and evetually shed a few tears or wet a tissue with them. I haven't been posting for a few days because I was afflicted with depression: I'm quite busy these days, preparing myself for my next university year, and I've succumbed to a lot of pressure during this time. I felt like I wanted to cry... to let myself out... but while it was enough to keep me feeling down, I only shed a few tears. It was only until that moment that I felt better. The thing is, crying is part of human nature. Everyone does, even when they're happy, or angry, or depressed. In fact, crying results from al...

For every world religion, tolerance is a core fundamental when it comes to dealing with your fellow believers and people who have faiths other than yours, even those who lack one. While talk on the subject of "tolerance" itself is lengthy, I would like to leave that for another topic. Right now, I have to settle this little score. An Islamophobic argument which has only recently come out, but is becoming popular, is that there is a single verse in the Koran that actually abrogates all forms of societal tolerance, in times of both peace and war. Sadly, many extremist Muslims condone the idea. The verse is in Surat-ul-Baqara ("the Heifer"), and in it, God has said, [2:106] None of Our revelations do We abrogate or cause to be forgotten, but We substitute something better or similar : Knowest thou not that Allah Hath power over all things? Take a look at the verse. It strictly says that there is no verse ("revelation") in the Koran that has been abrogate...

This happens all the time. Whenever Israel runs a strictly military investigation into an operation that it carries out, it looks for any propaganda lie to shift blame to the opposing party for creating the mess. There are a lot of people out there, though, that can see through this web of lies and deception. First, consider that Israel's intelligence is, sadly, one of the best in the world, and there is no way that such faulty intel can be brought up every single time that Israel has been exposed at killing innocent civilians. Also consider that once a bomb is launched, or a missile is launched, there can be no such "accidental deaths" or "collateral damage" (a phrase that Robert Fisk completely rejects) that result from this. The missile or bomb is either fired or not, and the consequences must be accepted. It is often argued that a justification for Israel's continued atrocities against the Palestinians and Lebanese, and other Arabs, is that the Arabs mus...

This is the tough talk these days, ever since the Lebanon crisis simmered down a bit. We return to a country that we haven't talked about for quite a while, but was in fact one of the first political issues I addressed. That country is Iran, and it's facing a deadline for the nuclear issue. It's supposed to respond to the UN resolution regarding uranium enrichment. Guess that the "world" doesn't trust Iran, eh? Iran is being put under serious pressure, more than ever, to end its nuclear programme. Whatever the case, I believe they have a right to proceed with nuclear enrichment just as long as they don't get into the nuclear weapon stage. Frankly, I'm not a fan of Iran's regime, but if anything, there is nothing that could justify a military operation against Iran's regime. I just hope this doesn't escalate into conflict, because conflict and war are not things that people would want. The Middle East has rarely been at peace, and I don'...

" As you know, the current situation in Darfur is dire, and the U.N. and U.S. government are doing little to relieve it. Raising awareness about the Darfur crisis is more important now than ever before. " I received this in an email from the Human Rights First organization based in New York. And I am going to pass their message. You can find more info about this day right here , and information about the organization hosting it here . While I don't believe that the U.S. government should intervene, I am of the belief that the Arab League should get something out of the Sudanese government regarding this issue. Pray for peace, everyone. Salaam, from Saracen

That's the most recent garbage spewed out by this neocon hatemonger, Anne Coulter. I can't stand her and her racist, bigoted rantings, and neither could any liberal or centrist for that matter... that is, provided that the centrists like myself lean more towards liberal values. I was surfing today on the net, just to find a loud of quotes from the rightwing femme fool. Let's just take a look at some of them. Regarding her comment about John Kerry's anti-war position, she said, "By 1973, John Kerry had already accused American soldiers of committing war crimes in Vietnam, thrown someone else's medals to the ground in an anti-war demonstration, and married his first heiress." Ok... the last part was uncalled for. It has to do with Kerry's personal life, so no politics there. The Vietnam War was in my opinion one of America's biggest losses, morally and materialistically, and the army has committed a grave number of war crimes against the Vietnamese....

What is Religious Humanism? I can offer here only the sketchiest outline of the most salient features of this distinctive approach to religion, which originated in the U.S. among Unitarians at about the time of the First World War. The movement eventually embraced two groups: one consisted of some Unitarians, Universalists, and Ethical Culturalists; the other was a group of academics. Notable among them were Roy Wood Sellars, a member of the philosophy department at the University of Michigan, A. Eustace Hayden, professor of comparative religion at the University of Chicago, and John Dewey, a member of the philosophy department at Columbia University. All three signed a very controversial document in 1933 entitled A Humanist Manifesto and all three wrote books contributing to the literary canon of religious humanism. The development, of course, was far more complex and less progressive than I have suggested, but the early religious humanists were historicists and nominalists. Sellars, ...

Amazing... four months of blogging and I have just reached a featured list on Sphere.com , a (Canadian?) blog search engine. Even cooller, they have a statistical profile . I think that's a sign of good things to come.

Just watch this video , or this one if the first link does not work. George Galloway has indeed done it again, this time to the British rightwing Sky News channel (thanks, Faisal). Salaam, from Saracen

When are Bush and his neocon nutjobs going to stop using this abusive and senseless word? I've already shown that "Islamofascism" and "Islamic fascists" are nothing but a figment of neocon imagination... more like wet dreams in the creation of an "enemy" that has an "ideology", and is a "real threat". None of this is true. Al Qaeda and their like, while despicable, are far from being fascists: they don't have the secular or nationalist capability of being fascists. Furthermore, to say that is a mask to hide the true intentions of some neocons, who want a war with Islam. But what can one do? I mean, Bush appears stupid enough, like some sort of dumb animal. Animals are dumb, so why be angry at them for being who they are? So, yeah, Bush is dumb as well, but this guy is HUMAN, which makes me even angrier at such a neocon nutjob puppet. Which brings me to my latest update on this issue. NabberGnossi , ever the debater/researcher/bl...

It's these days that we are witnessing an increase in Israeli propaganda in the Israeli and American media. Lebanese deaths are downplayed, and Israeli deaths are victimized, even soldiers. They actually bothered to show a report on how a lone American went to Lebanon in order to save DOGS, and NOT human beings! Isn't that a tad racist? But that aside, let's focus on Israeli propaganda and how it has made heroes of the Israeli army, and at times victims. NabberGnossi sent me this article by London Review of Books writer Yitzhak Laor, who lives in Tel Aviv (believe me: that's all the info I have on this guy). Laor struck me as a critic, but of the Richard-Ben-Cramer type who sticks to patriotic Zionism and outlines how Israel's military occupation and operations have corrupted much of the worldwide Zionist populace's thinking, or, in Ben Cramer's words, "corroded" the society of "both Jew and Arab". However, Laor mainly discusses how th...

It's not always that you get the friends you want, or are able to keep up with company. Socially, I admit that I am a partial recluse. I don't see a lot of people, and I have a few friends that I can really count on and seriously call "friends". However, in life, many people end up making "friends" who turn out to be what we Arabs call maslahjiyeen , or those who take you for granted. I have happened to have a few of these myself. There was this one case where I had a study partner who seemingly treated me as a friend, but in the end was using me for his own ends. Just a few years later, the same person unleashed a tirade at me because of a test that HE (not I) failed at. I offered the best I could, but in the end, I felt like a pawn. It's like being used... At that point, I could say I felt lonely, or frustrated. It took me a couple of days to get this through my head, and get over it in the first place. Whatever it is, the fact that this person used me...

Imagine a world where people are content, and governments serve the populace, not the other way around. Freedom is granted to all, and a sense of law and order are still felt. Governments trade freely, and poverty is minimized, while jobs are offered even when technology advances to the extent that it reduces the need for a larger human workforce. Food, energy and other resources are available in ways that do not damage the environment, and their costs don't come as expensive as they do these days. A belief in humanity is common and encouraged, and people are free to practice whatever religion they choose and say whatever they want in all forms of media. Now, imagine if all that was possible in this world. Utopia is not attainable. Ever. It's a sad fact of life, but people will tend to be leaning towards negative values for their own "positive" ends. Perfection is something no one, no nation, no people will ever reach: it's a fantasy that escapes all one's wi...

د. إبراهيم علوش [كلمة ألقيت في حفلٍ أقامته نقابة المهندسين الزراعيين لدعم الشعب الفلسطيني في مواجهة الحصار في مجمع النقابات المهنية الأردنية مساء يوم الأربعاء الموافق في 19/7/2006.] الأخوة والأخوات الأعزاء السلام عليكم، كل الشكر والتقدير للقائمين على هذا اللقاء الكريم. فقد دعوا له ابتداءً لمعالجة موضوع "دعم الشعب الفلسطيني" بعدما اشتد الحصار عليه بذريعة تشكيل حكومة جديدة للسلطة الفلسطينية من قبل حماس... ولو قيض للقائمين على هذا اللقاء أن يقرأوا المستقبل وأن يستشرفوا العدوان الصهيوني على لبنان، فمن المؤكد الذي لا شك فيه أنهم كانوا سيدعون للتباحث بوسائل دعم اللبنانيين كما الفلسطينيين، ولا ننسى العراقيين طبعاً، فالقضية العربية قضية واحدة لا انفصال بين أجزائها، وعدونا واحدٌ لا انفصال بين أجزائه: الطرف الأمريكي-الصهيوني وأذنابه. فالعدوان الصهيوني على لبنان لم يأتِ إلا تتمةً للعدوان الصهيوني على غزة، والمقاومة اللبنانية مطلوبٌ رأسها اليوم لأنها وقفت مع القضية العربية الواحدة كما كان يفترض أن يقف أصحاب القرار الرسمي العربي... لولا أنهم، من شدة "عقلانيتهم"، باتوا يفضلون الت...

While Arabian summers are quite hot, they can be quite boring at times. Usually, I'd take a stroll down a busy street just to feel in the midst of people... company, you know, or I'd sit down in a streetside cafe, with a cappucino or a bottle of cold water in my hands. Sometimes, I'd visit my friends and hang out with them, though most of them are really busy (most of my friends are older than me). But when there's no alternative, I sit down and watch a rented movie. The other day, I watched a movie which starred George Clooney, one of my favorite actors. The movie was titled "Syriana", though the movie had nothing to do with Syria whatsoever. However, what made the movie title connected with the synopsis was the fact that it was revolving around the Middle East and the oil industry. The story revolves around 4 main characters. The first is CIA Operative Bob Barnes (George Clooney), who is at a crossroads and discovers the real motive behind the CIA and Ameri...

Man is an interesting specimen. He can talk, shout, laugh, cry, touch, smell, taste, hear, and see. He also has feelings and emotions, of which the latter needs more control than the former. Unlike feelings, emotions have a more profound effect on not only the man's senses, but his entire body. His heart skips a beat or two when he falls in love, but breaks when misery opens the door to it. Over time, though, such emotions may overcome the senses of that particular person. One of these emotions, amongst several, has adverse affects on man and his well-being in general. That emotion is hate . Hatred sends a chill down one's spine, and fills one's bloodstream with a venom more poisonous than that of a cobra; it eats up the heart and cheats the mind. Hatred is an enemy in itself, and one of man's worst enemies ever since time immemorial. With it, all other emotions are sidelined, and the person is overcome with a desire to hate more... just for the sake of hating. Hatred i...

I always thought of South America as a haven for communists, progressives and other "revolutionaries", among from being a naturally beautiful continent where many Arabs, Lebanese and Palestinian especially, have emigrated over the past century. Apart from Chile and Argentina, a country that has suddenly come into the spotlight in the past decade is Venezuela. Why Venezuela? According to the CIA World Factbook , Venezuela appeals to the common man as a strategic location. It is full of natural resources, among them petrol, oil, natural gas, diamonds and bauxite. The country itself is a major hub for both sea and air trade routes, via the Carribean and the major River Orinoco. But that's how, sadly, the rightwing see Venezuela: an advantage and a beacon from where they can spread their Manifest Destiny and thus hegemonic control over other nations, including Venezuela itself, that resist the aims of neocon imperialism. What really pissed off the neocons was the re-election ...

While the assault on Lebanon rages on, the attention of the public has been diverted from other areas suffering from pretty much the same if not more of what Lebanon is getting. I'm talking about my homeland, Palestine, and the Cradle of Civilization, Iraq. Although the destruction in both nations may have not reached the magnitude as that in Lebanon, with billions of dollars in damage lost to the Zionist war machine, both have been suffering under tension still newsworthy and worthy of mention. Make no mistake: Palestinian, Lebanese, Iraqi and Israeli lives are all human lives being lost here (though I doubt that many Israelis consider that the case). I have become disgusted, if not appalled, at the Arab media these days (most notably Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya ) because they have failed to provide continued coverage for the conflicts in Palestine and Iraq. I was actually surprised to read this report by the Electronic Intifada, which claims that over 35 Palestinian children have...